Improvement in ore-furnaces



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HOBATIO G. LIvERMoRE, OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA.

IMPR OVEMENT IN ORE-FURNACES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. [72,329, dated January 18,1876; application filed October 23, 1875. i

To all 'whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HORATIO' Gr. LIVER- MORE, ot' San Francisco city and County, State of California, have invented an Improved Ore- Furnace; and I do hereby declare the following description and accompanying drawings are sufficient to enable any person skilled in the art or science to which it most nearly appertains to make and use my said invention or improvement without further invention or eX- periment.

My inventon relates to certain improvements in ore-furnaces, and is more particularly applicable to furnaces for roastin g quicksilver ores. It consists in the enploynent ot' two or more fire-places upon the s'ides of the ore-chamber, so placed that the heat will have its fullest effect upon the ore, while at the same time the ore will be prevented from passing into or clogging the fire-flues, without the necessity of arches or fenders of any kind.

Above the fire-places are passages which branch out from the ore stack or chimney, and open into a chamber which extends entirely aronndthe ore-chamber, and collects the Vapors from it in readiness to deliver them to the condensers.

Referrin g to the accompanying drawings for a more complete explanation of my invention, Figure l is a longitudinal vertical section. Fig. 2 is a' cross-vertical section. Fig. 3 isa horizontal section through w m.

Ais the body of my furnace, having the ore stack or chimney B, which is fed with ore at the top, and the refuse is drawn at the bottom in the usual manner through the opening G. D D are fire-places, which are placed at a considerable height, and opposite the upper and wdest part of the ore-chamber J. Openings e e serve to admit the heat and fire to the ore-chamber, which is suddenly contracted at a point, I, just above the openings e, so that the upper part ot' the ore-chamber is of co'mparatively small dimensions.

By this difference in size, I am enabled to place the opening e so that while the fiame and heat are freely adnitted to the ore-chamber, the ore itself will never be able to fill the passages or elog them.

The heat from the fire-places rises up into the narrow part of the ore-chamber until it reaches the passages or flues IF, which lead out, as shown, to the chamber Gr, surrounding the ore stack or fiue, and the vapor and products of combustion are driven out through the flues into this chamber as fast as produced. From this clamber a passage opens into the condenser, and the vapors are drawn out by suction-fans in the ordinary way.

y As the chanber G surrounds the ore-stack, it will be manifest that the heat of the vapors and products'of combustion within will pass through the walls of the stack, and thus heat the body of ore from its first entrance, so that as it gradually passes down as the waste is removed from the bottom, it Will be subjected to a more intense heat, until it is thoroughly roasted by the direct heat ot' the furnaces( In the upper part of the stack, and above the passages F, I make supplemental pas sages I, which open into' the chamber Gr, and the draft of the suction-fans will thus remove any vapors which maybe formed above the openings F.

suitable openings H are made at various points in the chamber G, and through these openings the chamber may be cleaned out from time to time, and the ore may be stirred at any time through small passages which open in a line with the escape-flues F.

By this construction l am enabled to provide a continuously-Workng furnace in which the greatest heat passes through the ore while it is contained in a narrow place. The heatpassages are not clogged, and a free escape is provided for the fumes.

Having thus described myinvention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, s

1. The ore-chamber J, eonstructed as described, in conbination With the fire-places D D, provided with the eXit-passages e, oreflue I, and Vapor-chamher G, having the connecting-passages F F I', suhstantally as and for the purpose set forth.

2. In combination with the ore-flue I, having the eXit-passages F F near the bottom, the vapor-chamber G, and the eXit-passages I', substantially as and for the purpose dcscribed.

' H. G. LIVERMORE.

Witnesses: i

GEO. H. STRONG, G. L. BOONE. 

